Pakistan is a country with a confluence of cultures meeting, just like India with Turkish, Middle Eastern, Indian and Persian culinary gems sprinkled over the country's diaspora that have led to the country nurturing some special sweets and desserts. Each dessert is rich in sweetness or ghee with a generous drizzle of nuts and spices in some form in most desserts that has some of the best sweet recipes. Here are some of Pakistan’s most beloved ones.
This one's a sweet rice dish which consists of local basmati rice cooked in milk sweetened with sugar. The unusual yellow colour of this sweet dish comes from yellow food colouring, it also uses cardamom, cinnamon and saffron to flavour the dish. It's kind of a pulao in Pakistan because dry fruits like raisins and nuts like pistachios and almonds are put into the sweet rice during its preparation. Zarda makes an appearance during important events, especially festivities like weddings and gatherings. If you're not sure what this dish might be, you might recall Punjab’s meethe chawal, it's quite similar to Pakistan’s Zarda.
Halva is a staple in any country that has touches of Persian influences and Pakistan is no exception. Though the exact origin is debated it is said to come from Multan, a city in Pakistan. There are different versions of this dessert but Pakistan’s version is usually prepared with milk, flour, sprouted wheat, water, sugar, lemon salt, spices like cardamom and saffron and ghee. The ingredients are boiled in ghee until they caramelise and the ghee releases a nutty aroma. Chopped nuts, usually almonds and pistachios, sometimes walnuts are mixed with the halwa and cut into pieces and eaten. The halwa hardens into small bricks when it cools down.
It's a kind of bread pudding that traces its roots back to the Mughal kitchens, possibly to the present-day Hyderabad, where the Mughals churned out a large number of Mughal dishes in their heyday. This is also contested with claims of Shahi Tukdey being from the Middle East and possibly Egypt, but there's no concrete evidence so far. Leftover or stale bread is soaked in sweet milk spiced up with cardamom and saffron. It is topped with almonds and pistachios and is aptly called a “morsel fit for royals”. These are prepared mostly during the festive season of Ramadan and Eid in Pakistan.
Jalebi is popular in many pockets of Asia and countries with a smattering of Persian colonies or empires in and around the Middle East and India. It goes by different names like Zalabia, Jeri and Mushabakh in different part of the world and is made with flour mixed with yoghurt or ghee with baking powder or yeast. This batter is put into piping bags and the chef puts a creative spin on them and fries them in circular rings in a vat full of bubbling oil. The crispy rings are doused in sugar syrup, sometimes unflavoured and sometimes flavoured with rose water, orange blossom water, saffron, honey and/or cardamom. The Indian version uses rabri to pair with jalebi, and Pakistan usually has their jalebi soaked in sugar syrup.
Another halwa that is popular in Pakistan is Habshi halwa they like all halwa are milk-based where sprouted wheat is cooked in milk with sugar, spices and nuts in ghee which makes is rich and super delicious. Rose water or kewra essence is added to this halwa to make it more fragrant. “Habshi” is an Urdu term that has racist connotations, referring to Africans who tend to have dark skin. The halwa is naturally dark in colour and hails from the Mughal era, which was commonly prepared during the winter months, hence the name as well.
In India, malai laddoo is commonly offered to Gods in temples, which is also popular in Pakistan and is made during special occasions in the country. Not just the the malai (clotted cream) kind either, other kinds of ladoo like the motichoor, besan and even sugary ones like gulab jamun are enjoyed in Pakistan. Malai laddoo is made with a mixture of malai, crumbled chenna, nuts and powdered sugar that is formed into balls.
Prepared during Eid festivities, Sheer khurma is basically vermicelli kheer and is considered to be a royal dessert. Exactly how kheer is made, Sheer Khurma is also made similarly, except that the vermicelli is roasted in ghee first and then cooked in milk to release the flavour of ghee. Dry fruits such as raisins and dates and a pinch of spices and other fragrant agents like rose water are added and the vermicelli is cooked until it thickens.